


The Soul-Songs of Illincara

by JumpingShinyFrogs



Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games)
Genre: Free Verse, Gen, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Poetry, Whodunit?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 13:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18032225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JumpingShinyFrogs/pseuds/JumpingShinyFrogs
Summary: Illincara, the Island of Friends. A small colony that threatens to tear itself apart in the wake of the suspicious deaths of an old man and the town's huntress. But how did they die? That is a question the soul-songs of its inhabitants may just be able to answer.





	1. Barcat

**Barcat**

 

Where is the Felvine

that I had the other night?

I got it from that long ears

it's important for my health

 

The people are all up in a fuss

about the old long ears

and the hunter dame too

both swallowed by the sea

 

"Murder!" some are shouting

in a voice that hurts my ears

"Monster!" scream others

and I wish I had my Felvine

 

A hunter shouts about

the people in the jungle

who find monster chicks

and bend them to their will

 

My fellow Felynes point

a paw at the dirty

filthy, lying, thieving

cunning mask-head people

 

Mask-heads say that

the hunters did it to

sully the good name

of the oh-so noble masks

 

Illincara, we call this place

the Island of Friends

but there are no friends here

save the ones who give me Felvine


	2. Cheraca

**Cheraca**

 

Fine goods for sale, and if you please

no haggling, my prices are fair and final

 

Ah but I would bargain with her,

Seela Star-Gazer, the finest 

huntress on Illincara

taken from us

 

She kept us safe from all

monsters who dared to threaten us

but now she’s gone

fallen into the sea

with the old Wyverian

she foolishly trusted

 

Everyone knows Wyverians are

out to get us all

pointy ears and feet with claws are

the mark of a monster

Scion says that she was killed

by one of those monster riders 

who live in the jungle

but I know better

 

The old Wyverian was ready to die

and so he took her with him

a terrible crime against us all

and after she was so

very, terribly kind to him

when no one else was

 

I saw them, a few days ago

down in the market square

she offered to show him

the stars she loved so much

 

He accepted her offer, and now she is gone

who will protect us now?


	3. Lek-Dek

**Lek-Dek**

 

[The non-Laka need to chill

Who cares if

an old man

and 

a self-righteous

huntress

are gone?

 

That night outside the bar

the huntress told me

monsters are cruel

and if I was not a

monster

I should not be cruel

 

If she thinks of the true-people as

nothing more than monsters

then she is just as bad

as I am

yes

she deserved

her fate]


	4. Friela

**Friela**

 

Oh but it is awful!

Murder in our good town!

Perish the thought, but

what else could it have been?

These are dark times

Riders bring their beasts

And bang the drums of war

And our hunters are all gone

Good Scion gone insane

and poor Seela slaughtered

The Shakalaka have the run

of the place now, the filthy things

And the old man killed too

Nobody cared much about

him and what he did

But someone killed him

Scion says it was a rider

But how could a rider get

into our town

without being seen?

I think there is someone

in this town

who is guilty and

who does not want to confess

Illincara is a place of friends

but I fear we are not friends

if we stab each other in the back

and not in the front


	5. Bartender

**Bartender**

 

Honestly all this talk

Of murder’s bad for business

Scared people don’t drink, you see

For fear someone would put

Poison in their cup

There’s a simple explanation 

And it doesn’t involve murder

 

The huntress Seela, she was

Deep in her cups, that night

She got into a fight with

That one mask-head

Then stumbled off home

Probably got lost

And choked on her own vomit

Somewhere in the jungle

 

As for the old man, well

Scion is half-right

Oh he was killed by

A monster I’m sure

But there was no rider

The walls keep the riders out

But Scion yells and shouts

About witches and stones

As if a monster needs a reason

To kill an old man

 

Friela needs to stop

She’s scaring away all

My customers, with all her talk

Of murder and insane hunters

Scion is an idiot, but he’s not

Insane, at least not yet

But if he is

I am taking the next

Guild airship out of this

cursed pit

before I am the next to die


	6. Kittenlig

**Kittenlig**

 

Do I know what happened to

Seela Star-Gazer?

Of course not.

How would I?

But I’d bet my left paw

It was those dirty mask-heads

 

I saw her in the bar

sipping ale and then

Luk-duck or whatever

his name is started

a fight with our

lovely, kind huntress

 

I suppose she was quite

drunk that night

She even dropped her axe

so I passed it back to her

She said what we were

all thinking

 

She told the mask-head to

stop his pointless rituals

and he told her some things

I simply won’t repeat

When she wandered out

he followed


	7. Raviel

**Raviel**

 

this is nice

very nice

a soft cradle of sand

i would have liked to have

died

in the mountains

of my youth

but this is alright too

 

i only hope that scion 

will not

do something

he regrets

i wonder what

became

of seela star-gazer

she did not

meet me at

the cliff

like she said

she would

 

death met me instead

just after scion came by

screaming and shouting

at some

poor soul 

he chased

 

i wonder about the

pretty girl with

the shining blue

stone

she seemed sad

as i went over the edge

 

but i don’t mind

not knowing 

the cold water feels

so warm to me

i think i will

sleep


	8. Rulesta

**Rulesta**

 

Batten down the hatches!

A storm of war is coming!

All because Scion had to

go and lose his mind.

 

I knew he hated the riders

but I didn’t think

he’d go so far

As to kill two people

just to have something to blame

on the riders in the jungle.

 

I knew he was insane from

the moment he stood up

In the market square, proudly

holding up 

a bloodied blue stone

and a switch-axe

 

He says he didn’t kill

Seela or Raviel

but how am I meant

to believe that

when his eyes are so wild?

 

I think I will move my stall

Away from where

he likes to sit

in case the madness spreads

Yes, by the bar should be

perfect

 

Hmm

Were those skid-marks always there?


	9. Uchter Duin

**Uchter Duin**

 

<This is unacceptable

and I will not take it

lying down

To slay one of my own

in cold blood

for the crime of being thoughtful

Hunters truly are

the worst kinds of men

 

So we will marshall up

our forces to bring

war to their hovels

They think of us as

no better than the creatures

we command

So we will show them

what we are really capable of

And when they plead and beg

for mercy

 

They will find none>


	10. Eiteach Dearg

**Eiteach Dearg**

 

<Little Mother told me to stay

Here, where she left me

She said to guard this

With my life, and so I will

Little Mother knows best

 

The sun is up now and

Little Mother is still gone

Little Mother told me to stay

And so I will stay

Little Mother loves me

 

I still guard the  _ sealgaire  _ that

Little Mother left to me

Little Mother took the

_ Anam  _ with her when she left

Little Mother is so wise

 

There were sounds coming from the

_ Bailsealgaire _ after Little Mother left me but

Little Mother will return 

Like she said she would

Little Mother never lies

 

I still stand guard

Over the  _ coirpis  _ of 

The  _ sealgaire  _ whose  _ anam _

Little Mother shared

Little Mother is so kind

 

When the small ones took

The  _ sealgaire  _ into the jungle

Little Mother thought it would be right

To take the  _ anam  _ back

Little Mother is always right

 

Where is Little Mother?>


	11. Scion Wild-Heart

**Scion Wild-Heart**

 

they’ll tell you i’m insane

i’ll tell you that i’m not

i know what i saw

there’s no mistaking it

that she-demon with

the piercing blue eyes

and the shining stone about her wrist

called down a monster

 

a scaly screeching beast

that flew furious from

the depths of the jungle

yes it was the rider

it’s the only explanation

that night on the cliffs

the witch knew she was cornered

and so she shouted

and the beast came

 

her monster took the old

wyverian and dropped him in

the sea but i was

smarter than her

and so her pet did not get me

but that damned bartender

makes me out to be a fool

“monsters don’t follow orders”

he says but he has never met

a rider

 

i only wish that i had

killed the rider

when first i saw her skulking

outside the village

just before the dusk

later she appeared in

the town

clutching that

familiar switch-axe

and everything went wrong

 

but it is alright now

i am not insane

and besides

we are all safe

after all

the rider is dead


	12. Gaois Laoi

~~~~**Gaois Laoi**

<I have made a mistake

A most grievous mistake

But I could not just 

Leave her there, not

When I could hear her

Soul

Singing to me

So I took it with me

Bound to the blade that

I know not the name of

She deserved to have

A proper resting place

With her fellows and not

Rotting in the jungle

I crept through the town

that night

[it helps that

she looked like me]

Then that man saw me

I tried to avoid him but

It was too late

And when the sound of his grief

stirred

The great sharp-scaled beast

I called to him in warning

If only I had seen

The old man

Who sat still

On the edge of the cliff

Oh if only I was not

Such a fool

As to think I could trust

A hunter not to kill me

But now I sit in the 

Gaps between the huts

And lament

My fate

My dearest Red Wing

It is my only hope that you

can be free now

as can I>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one poem left to see, one which will serve as an answer to the riddles...  
> but it won’t be released for a few days.
> 
> In the meantime, dear reader, I invite you to examine all you’ve seen and heard, and come up with an answer to what really happened that night on Illincara. Throw your theories at me in the comments, and whoever gets the closest to being right will get a mention in the afterword.
> 
> Good luck.

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of freeverse poems, inspired by horizon's 'The Last Dreams of Pony Island'. More of a puzzle than a story, I invite you to solve the riddle of the two mysterious deaths.


End file.
